Downton Abbey has some surprises in store for viewers as Lady Mary Crawley has been seen kissing Lord Gillingham while filming scenes for series five.

Michelle Dockery plays Lady Mary, who was widowed in Christmas Day 2012's episode and was torn between three suitors in Christmas Day 2013's episode, but pictures in The Sun show she may have made a choice.

The actors were snapped filming a kissing scene for the next series, due to air in autumn, which could surprise fans of the ITV period drama as last series she was seen knocking him back.

Lady Mary, who had been approached by Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen), Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden) and Evelyn Napier (Brendan Patricks), told Gillingham after his marriage proposal that she wasn't ready for another relationship.

She later confided in estate manager Tom Branson (Allen Leech) that she may live to regret her decision, and Gillingham vowed: "I won't give up, not until you walk down the aisle with another man, and perhaps not even then."

The scene was set in Liverpool but shot in London and showed the couple walking out of a hotel before sharing a kiss.

Meanwhile, series new recruit Richard E Grant has said that his character is going to shake things up.

He said: "I started filming yesterday. When I stepped onto the set at Highclere, I thought, 'Yes, I'm home - I'm upstairs, naturally.'

"I don't want to spoil anything but my character is set to cause some ructions. He definitely will shake things up. It's going to be fun."